Haggard, Lexington Leader, July 25, 1895

To Find Out That a Lynching Was Unwarranted.

A Strong Sentiment That the Recent Winchester EVent Was Unjustifiable–The Grand Jury May Actually Investigate It.

WINCHESTER, Ky., July 25. – A strong sentiment prevails here that the lynching on July 15 of Bob Haggard, a negro on suspicion of having assaulted Miss Elkin, was unjustifiable. There are many assertions afloat going to prove that the Negro was innocent of the crime alleged, and that the members of the mob are beginning to realize that they have made a dreadful mistake. The rumors have reached the dimensions of a report that the Grand Jury will be asked to investigate the lynching. Many of the lynchers are known.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

(Special to Louisville Commercial)

WINCHESTER, Ky., July 25.

Last Monday night Winchester, Ky., added to her record one of those blood-thirsty crimes that have so long disgraced the chivalry and dignity of the South, by taking from the county jail without judges, jury, or justice, “Bob” Haggard, charged with committing criminal assault upon Miss Myrtle Elkin, about ten miles South of this city.

The magnitude of this crime, for which a Winchester and Clark county mob is responsible, is just now being realized, since it is believed, after a week’s investigation and reflection, that Haggard was not guilty, and the deed for which he lost his life had never been committed.

An investigation by The Commercial correspondent, made by interviews with reliable people from the neighborhood of the supposed crime, warrants a several and complete denunciation of the mob’s vengeance, and the wide publication of the act as a lesson to the reckless. There is an old and true saying that murder will out, and it is just as true whether committed by a mob or an individual.

In this case the true facts are known in less than a week, and many hot-headed citizens who were drawn into the mob because a “Negro had assaulted a white girl,” now regret their action. In the neighborhood of the RIchards’ residence, where the deed was supposed to have been committed, the denunciation is strongest, and good people of the community may force the attention of the next grand jury and indict the principals in the mob, who were well known.

It was sent out in all the dispatches from here, giving account of the assault, that the crime was committed about sunset on Saturday evening, while the young lady’s grandmother, Mrs. Betsy Richards, was in the garden gathering vegetables, and that the burly fellow made threats and promises and kept guard over the premises until noon on Sunday. But, instead, it is now known to be a fact that on Saturday night and Sunday the Richards’ home had many visitors, among them being Mr. and Mrs. George White, of Richmond–Mrs. White being an aunt of the girl–and that Mrs. Betsey Richards and Miss Elkin both attended church at the near-by village of Ford on Sunday morning.

The protection given Haggard by the officials when the mob appeared was a farce and is a disgrace to the dignity of a civilized community. It may be said to the credit of the Sheriff, however, that he sought permission from the County Judge, after had had been informed of the mob’s approach, to allow him to remove the prisoner to Paris for safe keeping, but this was refused and the Sheriff commanded to guard the jail.

The Sheriff, however, could not summon a posse that was not in sympathy with the mob, and it is said one of these, after arriving at the fatal bridge, even furnished his spur straps to buckled the unfortunate Negro’s feet together

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Less than a year ago Winchester was saved from the disgrace of mob violence, not by the protection of the county officials, but by the courage of the prisoner himself.

Henry Scott, a Negro had been accused of a similar offense upon a little 3-year-old coloreed girl of this city. He was jailed, and that night a mob of Negroes and white boys about town went to the jail to take him out and hang him. He had been placed in a convenient cell and the keys were turned over to the mob. The Negro secured a bed slat and successfully defended himself until the jailer, vexed by the slothfulness of the motley crows, went out and took the keys from the hands of the header, locked the door again, and went to bed, leaving the mob to disperse. Next morning two physicians were sent to examine the child, and no attempt to commit the crime had been made, and the prisoner was promptly released.

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The mob that hung Haggard was just as thoughtless, and instead of being the friends of the wronged girl, it was largely made up of hot heads from this city, who simply wanted to hang a Negro.

A thorough investigation of the hanging of Haggard, it is predicted, will demonstrate that there was no good ground for holding him accountable for the crime for which he was lynched, and if an honest investigation is made it wil be shown that no such crime was ever committed. The facts as here reported are public property now, and the civilized people of Kentucky will want to know why Haggard was charged with such a crime, and why he was permitted to be murdered in such a manner.